K-Tek, known throughout the professional audio industry for its rugged and lightweight microphone boom poles, accessories and audio equipment bags, hosted location audio professionals to an open house and seminar at K-Tek’s Vista, CA headquarters.

Tours took the audio professionals through the K-Tek plant where they saw the precision machining fabrication and assembly of boom poles and mic suspension mounts, and even the sewing area room where K-Tek fashions its windscreens—all made in the US.

Attendees included Glen Trew of Trew Audio, Robert Noone of Location Sound, Gene Martin of Audio Dept, Lori Wilcox Saldana of Wilcox Sound, and scores of California’s top boom operators, audio utility and sound mixers including Thomas Curley with his shiny new Oscar® and BAFTA awards for Sound Mixing on “Whiplash”.

Sound mixer Chris Howland, CAS explained the importance of the event. “We all have equipment that we invest money on, and we often never know where it comes from and who puts it together. An event like this gives us a look at all that--who conceptualizes it and fabricates it into being, and the steps they go through to get us the tools that makes our job easier.”

After lunch, K-Tek president Brenda Klemme welcomed the crowd and kicked off the event with a look back at the founding of K-Tek by her father Manfred Klemme, who enjoyed a long career dedicated to bringing much-needed technology to audio engineers.

A lively panel discussion (streamed for those who could not attend) was moderated by legendary production sound mixer Jeff Wexler. The panel featured renowned colleagues Agamemnon Andrianos, Richard Lightstone, Paul Marshall, Patrushkha Mierzwa and Thomas Popp. Several panelists showed their legacy home-brew boom poles that they employed before K-Tek began providing the purpose-built graphite and aluminum boom poles sound professionals now rely on.

The increasing challenges location sound professionals are facing were major topics of discussion at the session. Veterans on the panel encouraged those newer to the industry to politely but firmly collaborate with the other departments for lighting and framing that will permit boom mics to best capture location sound.

The event closed with a raffle of door prizes that included some of K-Tek’s most coveted gear, won by smiling attendees.

Schneider Optics announces that Chrosziel, leading maker of professional cine and digital lens accessories, introduces an elegant mounting solution, purpose-built to contour to Sony PXW-FS7 cameras.

The new Light Weight Support (LWS) 401-FS7 provides optimum balance of the camera when shoulder mounted.

The new baseplate features an unparalleled slim design with a sturdy and ergonomic shoulder pad that simply slides into a comfortable location for optimal balance of the LWS on the shoulder. The system also offers (2) 15mm rods 205mm long, with a threaded insert for extension rods. The integrated Hirth rosettes provide mounting points for accessories such as Chrosziel Leather Handgrips. An integrated V-mount reliably affixes the camera to most quick-lock plates.

The LWS mounts to the camera base at several points for secure positioning. It can also be combined with the Chrosziel 19mm DigiCine Bridgeplate 401-F235, to provide support for large zoom lenses.

Chrosziel products are manufactured in Germany and exclusively distributed in the United States by Schneider Optics. The LWS 401-FS7 is now shipping.

This unprecedented collaboration between the two companies delivers on the openness of Avid Everywhere™, by enabling flexible and efficient workflows for all video editors and creative professionals, regardless of their choice of editing application.

Powered by the Avid MediaCentral Platform, the Avid Storage Suite offers a range of shared storage solutions for the most demanding video production workflows. Customers whose workflows include Adobe Premiere Pro CC can now benefit from the performance, scalability and capacity of Avid’s shared storage solutions.

"We are pleased that Avid’s shared storage systems now provide the high performance required for Adobe solutions,” said Simon Williams, director of strategic relations at Adobe. “With this news, Adobe Premiere Pro CC and Media Composer can share Avid DNxHD or Avid DNxHR media and other open file types on the same infrastructure. Our large base of shared customers will undoubtedly realize significant workflow benefits from this collaboration."

Adobe has delivered enhancements to Premiere Pro CC that significantly improve its performance when connected to Avid ISIS® | 7500 and ISIS | 5500 shared storage systems. Video professionals can now mix Avid Media Composer® and Adobe Premiere Pro CC on the same ISIS system in the same storage group, without worrying about complex configuration issues or performance compatibility. They can also edit higher resolution projects using Premiere Pro CC on ISIS shared storage more efficiently and cost effectively than ever before.

“One of the critical issues facing broadcasters and post-production facilities is the drag on productivity caused by having to manage and integrate different solutions from different vendors with different standards,” said Ray Gilmartin, senior director, Product and Segment Marketing, Avid. “This collaboration between Avid and Adobe is an example of the openness and flexibility that we are committed to delivering to the industry with Avid Everywhere.”

PARIS, MARCH 2, 2015 - Capturing high-quality audio for a blockbuster film is always crucial as dialogue between the actors must be heard if the story is to be understood.

But when the sound crew also has to contend with action-packed scenes featuring car chases and shoot outs, recording comprehensible audio becomes an even more complex challenge. This was the situation French sound engineer Stéphane Bucher found himself in on the set of Taken 3, the third and final instalment of action trilogy starring Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker and Maggie Grace. To combat any audio problems, he chose to use DPA Microphones' d:screet™ 4060 Miniature Microphones.

"I knew we had a lot of dialogue being recorded from difficult conditions for which using a boom mic just wasn't going to work," explains Bucher. "So, there was only one solution. I reached for my stock of DPA d:screet 4060 Miniature Microphones and asked the wardrobe team to help me figure out where we could hide them."

Bucher is no stranger to the versatility and exceptional sound quality afforded by these tiny DPA mics as he used them to great effect last year on the Luc Besson film Lucy, which starred Scarlett Johansson. On that occasion, the mics were sewn into the seams of Johansson's t-shirt, which delivered pristine audio without any visibility issues. For that production, the director filmed with only one camera, allowing Bucher to use a boom mic as a back up.

"The big difference with Taken 3 was that Olivier Megaton [the director] used three cameras at the same time so that he could capture numerous angles concurrently," he explains. "In tight situations, such as inside the police station where Forest had five pages of dialogue to record, we couldn't use a boom because of the wide and tight angles. That was when the DPA mics became so indispensable. Their sound matched perfectly when the boom couldn't be used. We recorded fantastic audio that came across loud and clear in the mix. By the end of the film, I'd say that 80 percent of the audio was recorded using these mics."

Internationally acclaimed as a sound engineer, Bucher has worked with numerous famous actors and directors, including Morgan Freeman, Pierce Brosnan and Kevin Costner. In recent years, many of his projects have come from major feature film production companies, such as EuropaCorp. He also owns and manages the Paris-based rental company, A4Audio, which supplies audio equipment to film and TV clients.

Bucher believes that good preparation was the key to the audio success of Taken 3. Before shooting started in the U.S., he spent four days with wardrobe staff figuring out the best places to hide the DPA d:screet 4060 mics.

"Unlike Lucy, where the action took place over a very short timeframe, this film spans a longer stretch of time so there were more costume changes to contend with," he explains. "Hiding microphones in clothing only works if you can avoid scratching or chaffing noises. We did pretty well with most of the costumes until we came up against a waterproof jacket that Liam wore in a few scenes. This was made from really noisy fabric, so the wardrobe department put a noiseless soft tissue into the jacket to prevent the mic from picking up the crackling of the cloth. Luckily, the d:screet 4060 was sufficiently sensitive, picking up only the sound we did want without any problems."

For scenes where the action took place within a car, Bucher used DPA's d:dicate™ MMC4018-ES Supercardioid Microphones with MMP-ES active cables with side cable, which were supplied by DPA's French distributor Audio2.

"I used them for the first time and for one particular car chase where Liam was speeding down a highway, and they were great," he says. "I needed a very small mic to put into the car's sun visor. We bought two new sun visors, opened them up and put the 4018 mics inside. This was possible because the cable comes out of the side of the mic and it worked perfectly that way. We also tested them on a much simpler car scene, during which Forest was driving and talking, and they worked great for that as well."

Bucher was so impressed with the results he achieved with the tiny DPA microphones that he is now looking to purchase DPA's shotgun microphone as well. "I've got some new film projects coming up and I think the boom mic would be ideal for this," he says "It's going to be shot in Denmark later this year, so what could be better than using Danish mics? I have no doubt that I'll get great audio quality if I do use them because this is what DPA is renowned for - really translucent, clear and natural sound."

Van de Sande calls the VariCam 35 “the first 4K offering I feel comfortable with, an absolutely modern camera with tremendous scope, an embracing image, and whose dual native ISOs of 800/5000 will completely change the business.”

Van de Sande, a graduate of the Dutch Film Academy, received the Golden Calf (the Dutch Oscar) for Best Cinematography both in 1982 and 1987. He shot numerous feature films in Europe that attracted international attention. The Assault, his last film in the Netherlands, became the first Dutch feature film to receive the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

His first American film, Miracle Mile, starring Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham, became an instant cult classic. After settling in Los Angeles, Van de Sande continued to work on a great variety of both studio and independent films, shooting for such directors as Lasse Hallstrom, Garry Marshall, Joan Micklin Silver, and the legendary Robert Wise. His critically acclaimed and iconic work includes Blade, Cruel Intentions, Crossing Delancey, Once Around, Volcano, Out of Time and Homefront.

He has co-produced several award-winning documentaries with his partner Michèle Ohayon, including Colors Straight Up, which was nominated for an Academy Award, DGA Award and Spirit Award along with winning 13 national awards; Steal a Pencil for Me, which received the prestigious Yad Vashem award; and Cowboy del Amor, which won the Jury and Audience Awards at the SXSW festival, as well as several other national awards. In television, he worked with director Mick Jackson on the pilot for The Practice, Tuesdays with Morrie starring Jack Lemmon (Emmy and DGA Awards) and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter (also nominated for an Emmy).

Van de Sande had been prepared to shoot the Salem Rogers pilot with an Alexa, but Amazon Studios stipulated a native 4K camera. Within days after signing on to the project, he saw a demonstration of the VariCam 35 at the ASC Clubhouse and literally “saw the (low) light.”

“I simply didn’t believe it when I switched for the first time from ISO 800 to native ISO 5000,” he said. “How could this be accomplished without sacrificing dynamic range and imagery? I came to learn that at ISO 5000 the camera can actually see more and better than the human eye, and allowed me to create a whole micro world in front of the camera. What’s more, with the VariCam 35 I can ramp from 24 to 120fps without changing the light, a tremendous economy of time and money.”

“From the first day on the Salem Rogers’ set I began to use the native 5000 ISO on some unexpected occasions (a day interior in a bookstore, e.g.) and was blown away by it,” Van de Sande said. “The last

scene was shot at nighttime at Venice Beach with very little light. Shops were closed, but the arches of the buildings were still overexposed, lit by some small fixtures. The palm trees were silhouetted against the night sky, and I lit a huge area with just one unit from 100 yards away. The bottoms of the palm trees were lit with the headlights of our camera truck.

“Later in the CBS pilot I used 5000 ISO setting by night in cold, humid, wet Vancouver winter weather on overpasses, freeways, intersections and bridges with even more amazing results. And here again there were no issues: all went well on a grueling, impossible schedule of 12+ days.”

Van de Sande also singled out the VariCam 35’s ability to record three simultaneous video formats (4K + 2K + Proxy, or UHD + HD + Proxy). “You treat the 4K slot as if it were the digital negative--you don’t touch that data. You have the SUB recorder slots where you can do all your work: 2K/HD is plenty of resolution for editors who normally work on highly compressed DNxHD36 images.So, you’re recording to a high-res master and you are essentially cloning copies in different resolutions in camera, in real time.”

“With the VariCam 35, its 4K sensor and native 5000 ISO setting, Panasonic has taken a front position in the line of professional digital cinema cameras,” he said. “And the company’s timing in bringing the Varicam 35 into the digital cinema and episodic television markets is the absolute right moment within the big picture of 4K and UHD standardization.

“It’s been a total thrill to be at the cutting edge of this new technology; the VariCam 35 will push the other camera manufacturers forward, because soon the 4K pipeline will be the standard for TV and digital cinema. 4K will be the format that people request when they buy content in the very near future. And now, digital camera technology has finally realized the high standard of the 35mm film negative.”

(New York, NY – March 3, 2015) - The World Teleport Association (WTA) today announced that its Board of Directors has elected James Trevelyan, Sales Director at Arqiva Satellite & Media, as its new Chairman effective April 1.

Mr. Trevelyan replaces M. Brett Belinsky, Managing Director of EMEA at Encompass Digital Media, who has served as Chairman of the Board since 2011 and is stepping down from the Board at the end of his final term.

“Five years ago,” said Mr. Belinsky, “we set off on a journey of advocacy and I’m thrilled that James has stepped up to lead the Board as it moves forward. I have come to admire his integrity and passion over the years and I am confident that under his guidance the WTA will continue to encourage independence and, more importantly, ensure that the Board is always focused on supporting the interests of the broader constituency.”

During Mr. Belinsky’s tenure as Chairman, WTA has introduced the Satellite Operator Benchmarks report as well as a collection of other research programs that provide its members with valuable guidance on business and technology management and helps them speak with one voice on important business and market issues. As a result, the association’s membership has grown 21% to more than 120 companies and 1,000+ individuals, and its revenue base has expanded 19%.

Mr. Trevelyan’s career in the satellite industry began in 2001, when he joined Kingston inmedia, now Arqiva. Three years later he became a member of the leadership team charged with growing the enterprise services side of a predominately satellite broadcast business. He built up a sales and technical team, which grew annual revenues organically from $8m to in excess of $55m. He was involved in the acquisition and subsequent integration of the BT Satellite business in 2006.

“I’m honoured to have been given the role of Chairman of the WTA,” said Mr. Trevelyan. “It’s an exciting time to be working in this industry with today’s changing technology, operations and business models creating new, but exciting challenges to overcome. As Chairman, I will continue to build on the fantastic work Brett has achieved and drive forward the WTA members’ mission and goals.”

Today Mr. Trevelyan is accountable for the enterprise business globally as well as the satellite broadcast business across the MENA region. He manages sales, technical, product, project and service implementation including the procurement and management of ~450MHz related to these business areas.

Mr. Trevelyan has served as a member of WTA’s Board since 2012. In his earlier career he held various sales and marketing roles at Nortel Networks, Lexmark International and IBM. He holds an honours degree in International Marketing and Languages from Strathclyde Business School as well as diplomas from L’ESSCA in France and Dortmund University in Germany.